Australian Newsagency Blog

We are offering diaries at 25% off in one of our newsagencies to move stock and free space. Plenty of what is shown in the photo was purchased at a substantial discount off wholesale for this move so the margin is excellent. We have had an excellent diary season so far and indications are […]

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We have ordered more diaries to cope with demand.  The Collins Enviro and Kyoto ranges are particularly popular.  Being the only outlet in a shopping centre with diaries results in good destination purchase traffic for us.
We developed a sales projection for February - March diary sales based on October - January sales.  This is what […]

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We have been playing with calendar and diary prices in several locations to see how much we can make this time of the year.
With the majors now well out of the calendar space and most other retailers offering 75%, we have calendars at 50% off in my newsagencies and 25% off in my Sophie Randall […]

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When ordering calendars this year we sought our brand extension opportunities.  This Top Gear 2010 pocket diary is a good example.  We have this, the calendar as well as the magazine itself - a perfect gift package for a Top Gear fan.  We have a good selection of pocket diaries and calendars which are brand […]

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The Kyoto range of diaries from Collins Debden is selling well in this week of the Copenhagen climate talks.  We have them well displayed to connect with the extensive news coverage of the climate talks.
Given the carbon offset message on the cover, this range also connects with the Emissions Trading Scheme news which has dominated […]

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We have changed the offer around our photocopier with space tight this time of the year.  As the photo shows, we are using this space for a secondary display of diaries and some office products.  Our main diary display is a metre away.  This secondary display is designed to attract copying service customers as well […]

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The Vintage Vogue covers on calendars and diaries from German publisher teNeues should work well in newsagencies with good Vogue sales. I like the range because it strengthens our point of difference in calendars and diaries as well as connecting between product categories around a successful brand - we need to do more of this.

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We have placed diaries are more likely to appeal to women closer to our greeting card department since women are four times more likely to shop the card department than men. The photo shows part of this range, we have more on a stand nearby.  While this placement near cards is a logical step […]

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We started promoting The Australian Women’s Health Diary 2010 at the front counter of our newsagency from yesterday.  This is the first time we have done such a display for this at the counter.  While the diary usually sells very well, we wanted to see what we could achieve with a good display at our […]

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The photo shows more magazine subscriptions being pushed through diaries associated with the magazines. While I understand that subscriptions are part of the publishing model, I am not happy that they use diaries in newsagencies to take business from us.
News Magazines are the worst culprit at the moment with discounts of up to […]

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Inserted in the front of the 2010 Notebook diary is a subscription flyer. Subscribe and save 28% on a 1 year subscription to Notebook magazine it proclaims.  Publishers do this all the time and I usually let it slide.  Using a low margin diary supplied on mediocre terms this is poor form by the published […]

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What will newsagents sell the 2010 Australian Nurse Diary for?  $11.95 which is the RRP or $15.00 which is the retail price for the copies supplied through Network Servcies? Network has invoiced me at 71% more than the cost price from my direct supplier.  The margin on the Network price is 36% and the margin […]

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We have our Financial Year Diaries on sale on our dance floor, toward the front of the shop - between our newspaper stand and our counter.  While we have regular customers who deliver good Financial Year Diary business, we are chasing the customer who has not come in with a Financial Year Diary purchase as […]

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We are getting to the end of our diary sale and have now moved from a percentage off offer to a fixed price offer.  Each diary has the orginal price and a discount price.  We figured this is easier especially since we have moved beyond a half price offer.  We will keep a small range […]

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We have found ourselves overstocked with diaries at the wrong end of the season.  To move these we have purchased professional marketing collateral and created a display on our dance floor with a big WOW! factor.  Anyone walking past our Forest Hill store cannot help but see the display.
What I like about the marketing collateral […]

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We have been talking across our newsagencies about our price policy for diaries and when to contemplate discounting the 2009 range.  With excellent sales still being achieved - $500 to $900 a day Friday last week and again today across our stores - we feel no need to contemplate discounting at this point. 
I was in […]

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We are seeing excellent diary sales this year compared to last, from the beginning of the diary season, almost two months ago, we have been ahead in sales on last year.  We have kept promotion of diaries on the move, most recently promoting the category in the window which was home to our Christmas display. […]

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The Australian Women’s Health Diary TV campaign is paying off. I saw one customer buy the diary on the weekend because of it. She came in to buy a magazine, saw the diary at the counter and mentioned the TV ad. While allocating counter space is a challenge, The Australian Women’s Health […]

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We have had diaries out for just over two weeks and sales have been fantastic - $2,600 at Forest Hill. Considering that we did not put diaries out last year until mid October, we are happy to already be ahead. Watching customer behaviour shows that the diary purchase at this time of the […]

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We are promoting magazine branded diaries as an impulse item at the counter in the slim spinner shown in the photo. In the past we have promoted these in our regular diary section. The idea behind the counter pitch is that customers buying the related magazines are more likely to buy a sister […]

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We placed a stack of 2009 desk calendar blocks at the counter, next to our good selling Angel Flames candles, several weeks ago.  Sales have been excellent.  Our price is $2.00.  While others will be cheaper, at this price point we are not finding any resistance - people are happy to have got one while […]

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The Enviro range from Debden is the other 2009 diary range of note we have in store right now. Produced on recycled paper, this range is fashionable and sustainable. As with my previous post, it will be important for us to ensure that our teams know about the back story for these diaries.
Speaking […]

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I am pleased we have the Debden Kyoto range of diaries in stock. These carbon neutral 2009 diaries will appeal to our customers. That we have them in-stock demonstrates that we have taken care to offer an environmentally friendly product. Printed on recycled paper, these diaries are sure to be a hit […]

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